Darkinjung woman Rhiannon Keith has dedicated her life to fitness. The personal trainer at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) in Redfern is also a bodybuilder. In March, after just one year of competition, Rhiannon picked up the gold medal in the first ever Arnold Classic held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
“At the end of the day, it’s just not sustainable in a world approaching nine billion people to demand meat every day, let alone with every meal.” Ryan Alexander is a passionate advocate for animal rights and vegetarian ethics. “Humans can live, happy, healthy and fulfilling lives without meat,” he says. “There really is no need to eat meat in our culture. It is a choice, weighed down by the inherited thinking of ‘need’ and the mass marketing machine of big business which feeds off this thinking.” He talks to Andrew Collis about the No Meat May campaign.
REDFERN: Saturday April 11 saw the long-awaited return of the Redfern Block Party. B-boys and b-girls held centre stage at the fun and family-friendly event which included amazing music, good vibes, dance, art and food.
“City Streets” by Julie Hill is a song with special meaning for Anne Jordan PVBM, director of Cana Communities. The lyric speaks of the pain of life on the streets, as well as solidarity and the promise of healing relationships: “Who will hear their song, who will sing along ...?” City Streets magazine was published over two decades. Its editor, Aleida Jansen, has now edited a book to celebrate Cana’s 40th anniversary. Cana Communities – Celebrating 40 Years was launched by Margaret Cannane PVBM on Sunday May 3 at Redfern Park. As befits the Cana story thus far, the event was a joyous and chaotic, musical and liturgical celebration.
Regina Madden, in her own words, is “a girl from the bush”, and a “straight talker”. According to those who know her best she is also a big-hearted and highly capable community leader. As Co-ordinator of the Garden Shelter at South Sydney Uniting Church she is respected and loved for her integrity, dependability and good humour. “I laugh a lot!” she says.
WATERLOO: In September last year Siobhan Bryson, Operations Manager at Weave Youth & Community Services, received a “cold call” from Daniel Jeon, Director of BestU Cleaning Management. Mr Jeon then paid a visit to Weave’s head office and women’s centre. Having been provided a quote for cleaning services, Ms Bryson informed Mr Jeon that although impressed by his company – “I could tell they’d do a good job” – it was simply not an affordable option for Weave.
Sydney Girls High Year 10 students have chosen to support the work of Red Cross this year by organising a street collection for Red Cross Calling in the Sydney CBD on Friday March 13.
We’ve heard a few stories about your adventures in 2013-2014. What have been the highlights for you?
Having the opportunity to travel this beautiful country...
The Yabun Festival is all about pride – diverse talent, creative community, resistance to injustice and respect for country and culture. The annual festival is the largest one-day celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in Australia. Held each Australia/Survival/Invasion Day (the different names reflect diverse experiences) on the traditional land of the Gadigal people at Victoria Park, Yabun offers a vibrant arts program as well as community information and social-political engagement.
Late last year, Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), paid a visit to Weave Youth & Community Services to present the findings of a survey revealing that 80 per cent of frontline agencies are unable to meet levels of demand with current resources.
“Door in the Wall” was founded 11 years ago with a group of singers who met through the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir. It started off as a small group singing for a wedding. Everyone enjoyed singing together within a small group and the idea of an ongoing choir was born. Over the 11 years, the group has expanded beyond that original core, with new singers joining for the adrenaline rush you get from singing and performing together. Numerous singers have sung with the group, some for a concert or two and others for the long haul.
Smokers enjoy the ritual of smoking together. We ask, what else might you do to help meet this social need? Why not go for a run or bike ride with a friend? Why not go for a walk around the oval? Or take a break and have a cup of tea?
REDFERN: Redfern Artist Group (RAG) staged its fourth exhibition in October. The show, entitled Home, was held at 107 Projects from October 15 to 26 and featured works by nine artists. The diversity of the work was impressive.
Redfern-based Gumbaynggir musician Tim Gray and his band the Green Hand Band will launch their debut CD at the Corroboree Sydney Festival on 24th November.The launch will be broadcast live on Triple J.
BOTANY: The Food Distribution Network (FDN) held its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday October 29. The guest speaker for the meeting was Kelly Smith, Nutrition Programs Co-ordinator for Secondbite, with whom FDN shares premises in Margate Street, Botany.
REDFERN: “We’re lucky that every week at the NCIE feels like NAIDOC Week!” said April Long, Programs Manager at the NCIE (National Centre of Indigenous Excellence). Ms Long was especially excited about hosting the 2014 Inner-City NAIDOC Family & Sports Day on Friday July 11.
On Saturday July 19 the very cool John Harkins will assemble a jazz trio to perform at the SSH Winter Fundraiser at the South Sydney Uniting Church in Waterloo. The SSH is excited to announce that guest vocalist for the set will be Grace Chung.
South East Sydney Community Transport (SESCT) has funding for a one-on-one social support service for frail-aged consumers in the City and eastern suburbs.
Vanessa Caspersz finds inspiration in "creative thinking people who are able to continually re-define what music and art is in their community" and those who "use very little to create big things. "
Redfern resident Dan Abbot is just weeks from completing a six-month post-graduate certificate in cinematography with the Australian Film Television and Radio School at Moore Park. The course at AFTRS is the culmination of several years of study, filmmaking and travel. “In some ways I just wish I knew what I wanted to do when I was 19,” Dan says. “But traveling and working has given me life experience. I’ve loved it. It’s made me more confident and more certain about things.”
MARRICKVILLE: What do you do with a broken toaster? Or with a bike when the wheel runs out of true? Toss it? No way! The Bower Reuse and Repair Centre has opened Australia’s first Repair Café.
A group of four young leaders from Tuvalu and Kiribati visited Australia in late May and early June as part of a leadership training program organised by the Pacific Calling Partnership (PCP), an initiative of the Edmund Rice Centre. Since it began in 2006 the PCP has sought opportunities for islander communities to be heard so that industrialised nations might listen and take heed of their moral obligations with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on vulnerable nations.
REDFERN: Claire Bornhoffen is an exuberant young curator. She has recently established a partnership with Social-Laneway Espresso in Redfern Street near Redfern station. The café currently features work by artist Blake Paul Kendall who is raising funds for a children’s book project in support of the Penang community in Borneo.
WATERLOO/REDFERN: The cycleway on George Street is just about complete. Council and contractors are to be commended for the meticulous construction work, including drainage, signage, surfacing and landscaping.
REDFERN: An initiative of Damien Minton Gallery, the inaugural Redfern Biennale was held on Saturday March 8. The outdoor, eclectic, democratic free-for-all happening was a highlight of Art Month Sydney and a huge success.
On the afternoon of Friday March 21, SBS news reported that five people had been arrested after holding a prayer vigil in protest against the government’s asylum seeker policy. A group of nine protesters held the vigil in the foyer of the Sydney office of Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, in reaction to what they described as Australia’s “cruel treatment” of asylum seekers.
Last month, Food Connect (“fresh produce from local farmers at a fair price”) was taken on by another social enterprise called Ooooby (Out of our own back yards). Ooooby had decided to discontinue the “city cousin” program that sees fruit and veggies delivered for pickup to local collection points. However, after feedback from subscribers and city cousins, they have reversed their initial decision. The city cousin program will continue with one small difference – pickup is now on a Tuesday rather than a Wednesday. (There is also the option of free home delivery – please see the Ooooby website for details.)
The Bower is much more than a second-hand goods and furniture shop. It’s a co-operative workshop and resource centre, a treasure trove, a library of books, records, CDs and videos, and, this month, a café too! To mark 15 years of recycling and upcycling (everything from chairs to electric toasters and fashion accessories), the Bower is set to open Sydney’s first Repair Café. Patrons can enjoy a hot beverage while learning new skills in basic carpentry and electrical repairs, upholstery, painting, bookbinding, and so on.
Sydney band Video Set (formerly Salta) will record an EP of new material in coming months. Their live shows of late – acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, two- and three-part harmonies and short video projections – have attracted increasing interest and praise. Liz Hughes talks about plans for 2014.
As a young child in Cornwall, England, Rebecca Morris felt an affinity with the ocean. She loved to swim and surf. She was a surf life saver before studying zoology and fishery science at Cardiff University. This year sees her part of the Centre for Research on the Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities (University of Sydney) and part-way into doctoral research toward better understanding of sea-wall ecosystems. Her particular area of interest is Blackwattle Bay.
October 28 was Blue Knot Day, an initiative coordinated by Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA), the leading national organisation advancing the needs of the estimated 4-5 million Australian adult survivors of childhood trauma.
South East Sydney Community Transport held its Annual General Meeting on November 26. More than 150 members, including staff, volunteers and clients, gathered for the meeting at St Barnabas’ Church at Broadway which included presentation of reports and election of board members for 2014. Long-serving board member Terry Murphy (a former chairperson) announced his retirement and was effusive in his praise of SESCT manager Jane Rogers whom he described as “the most successful operator I’ve ever come across”.
REDFERN: Tim Gray is a Gumbaynggirr man from the Nambucca Valley on the mid-north coast of NSW. He is a gifted and busy musician, filmmaker and eco-justice activist. “Music, film, storytelling, it’s all the one thing,” Tim says, “trying to make the world a better place.”
Multi-award-winning artist, curator and educator Miriam Cabello has marked the 40th anniversary of “the first September 11” – the Chilean military coup in 1973 that brought Augusto Pinochet to power and heralded a dark chapter in her home country’s history. As part of the Sydney Fringe Festival’s “Cultural Rebels” program (September 6-29), Cabello’s artworks highlighted the violent overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende.
16th/17th-century aficionados I Cantarini will join nu-folk songsters Salta for a one-night-only performance at the SSH dinner/fundraiser on October 18.
Last month the SSH reported on Weave Youth Family Community’s award-winning building (the $2.7 million starburst building at the corner of Elizabeth and Allen streets in Waterloo won the Sulman Award for Public Architecture) and inspirational programs. Weave client Kat Hines spoke of the organisation’s generous and genuine staff, and about her passion for art. In August Ms Hines won a graphic design competition. Her original artwork now features on posters and promotions for the Mad Pride youth event to be held at 107 Redfern Street, Redfern, on Wednesday October 9.
